Prominent figures join to fight ‘Chinese virus’ slander

Source:Global Times Published: 2020/3/18 23:53:40

US President Donald Trump attends a press conference in the White House in Washington D.C., the US, on Feb. 26, 2020. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday appointed Vice President Mike Pence to oversee the country's response to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Several prominent Chinese scientists rebuked a claim that US President Donald Trump made in referring to the novel coronavirus as "Chinese Virus," which is considered a racist and offensive move to shift the blame to China and igniting anti-China sentiment when no evidence showed the virus originated in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province.

Rao Yi, president of Capital Medical University in Beijing, said in a WeChat article on Wednesday that according to the US government's logic, the first AIDS case was reported in the US on June 5, 1981, so should AIDS be called an American venereal disease and HIV the "American venereal virus?"

And should the spirochete leading to syphilis, which is widely considered to have originated in North America and been transmitted to Europe by the Spanish, be called "North American spirochete?"

He raised another example of US malicious deeds. Around 1918, the influenza virus that struck the whole world, which got the name of "Spanish flu," is now most commonly recognized as having originated in rural Kansas, in the US.

It was first transmitted to local military camps, later spread to barracks all over the US, then travelled to multiple places nationwide. The whole world fell victim to the virus at last. Spain was just part of the transmission route. But the virus was later named "Spanish flu" to tarnish Spain. In fact, it should be renamed as "US influenza virus," said Rao.

It is generally estimated that the "US influenza virus" caused 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide, more than the combined death tolls from World War I, World War II and all the other wars in the 20th century, according to Rao.

"North American spirochete" infects approximately 45 million patients, and kills 100,000 annually; more than a million contract "American venereal virus" and roughly 770,000 die each year.

Infection numbers and death tolls caused by these three viruses far exceed the number of COVID-19 victims.

Renowned Chinese respiratory specialist Zhong Nanshan also said in a Wednesday conference that there is no evidence showing that COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, noting that it is irresponsible to jump to conclusions without getting the facts straight.